


The Boy and The Apocalypse

by igotatext



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Emotionally stunted man-children, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Help, au where everything works out for some reason, smol five
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-05-15 06:37:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19290247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igotatext/pseuds/igotatext
Summary: Just before the last jump that lands Five in the apocalypse, he catches a glimpse of someone familiar and is stopped just in time.Instead, he's ended up slightly over eight days before the apocalypse, except he of course has no way of knowing this. How are the Hargreeves siblings to deal with the return of their long-lost brother and the vague sense of impending doom that he brings with him?And how is Five to deal with his siblings, who just a moment ago he saw as inferior, trying to get all mixed up in his life?What is even going on?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> just so you know, the apocalypse is a very background theme in this fic. I'm only writing it so I can then write a continuation about the Hargreeves clan growing as people and learning to trust each other again
> 
> also baby five

He’d tried. They couldn’t possibly say he hadn’t.

 

He’d swallowed his pride and listened to Dad. He’d trained, for days on end, until he could teleport accurately, right down to the inch. He’d stayed up when the rest of his siblings were asleep, poring over PhD level physics books to better understand his powers. And he’d this, not exactly silent, but to the very best of his ability. Through all this, the nagging voice in his head remained, asking him why his father would possibly listen to anything he had to say after thirteen years of ignoring him. _Since when has he ever changed his mind?,_ it mocked. _He’s never done anything for you._

 

And it was right, because his father had apparently had no intention of letting him time travel.

 

Did Dad really expect that after sending Five rushing across the world to fight terrorists, criminals and all sorts of crazies, he’d give up on time traveling because it was too risky?

 

Well, he had another thing coming. He was sick of being used as someone else’s weapon and not even getting anything out of it. So he told his father, though not in as many words, and stormed out, because he’d be damned if he was _ever_ going to listen to him again.

 

Before he left, he glanced at his siblings.

 

Klaus didn’t look completely there with them, as usual. Ben looked concerned, but apparently not concerned enough to step out of line. Luther looked exasperated, as he tended to when anyone dared take away their father’s attention from him. Allison was looking at Luther, because they had that whole weird thing going on that Five wasn’t sure he wanted to know about. Diego simply smirked and kept eating as though nothing significant had happened, and Five wasn’t sure whether it was because he was happy someone was standing up to their father or because he thought Five was dumb.

 

And then there was Vanya, the only one who was making direct eye contact with him. She was pleading with him with her eyes, to not do this, to sit back down and apologize to prevent whatever bigger punishment there was coming later. But he was tired of conceding to that man. Even if he had to come back with his tail between his legs after failing miserably, he could at least say that he’d tried. Which was definitely more than he could say for any of them.

 

As he turned his back on all of them, he wasn’t sure what exactly was going to come of any of this.

 

He might be making a huge mistake.

 

But at least it would be his mistake to make.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> five time travels, and of course, everything goes wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story has been bouncing around my head forever and I finally decided to write a bit of a prologue a few days ago. I was surprised that people responded so well even though it wasn't incredibly developed or long. enjoy this much lengthier chapter

Five prided himself on being a very logical person, certainly more than any of his siblings combined. However, he wasn’t too proud to admit that he didn’t really have much of a plan on this particular occasion. In truth, he had no plan at all.

 

Here he was, walking outside of the house in broad daylight, mask-less face and uniform for everyone to see. He was already attracting a few looks. He started jogging, and tried to think of the idea he’d had to try out his powers. Since it wasn’t exactly something you could practice, this would be his first time doing this. What could possibly go wrong?

 

He sped up to a jog and tried to calm down. He needed to think. His time travel and spatial jumps were both parts of his general power of teleportation. In theory, he should be able to teleport through time the same way he was able to teleport through space. And combining that with his knowledge of general relativity and quantum physics, he now had a very vague, but still genius, idea.

 

He already knew this was going to be a shot in the dark, because he hadn’t honed his accuracy with it the way he had with his spatial jumps (Dad was to blame for that). But he tried to picture the earliest of his training sessions, where he’d think _left_ or _right_ and he’d appear in some unspecified location in that general direction. And so, since Five had always been one of those kids who spent all their time wanting to be older, he held his breath, thought _forward_ , and opened a portal.

 

He stepped through it, same as he always had. But even before his other foot had hit the ground, he knew something was different.

 

The air lacked the slight chill it had had just a moment ago, and the harsh wind that had buffeted him was gone. Instead, the sun was beaming down hard enough to make him sweat. The grumpy people clutching their jackets against the wind had been replaced by smiling families dressed in bright colours. Kids were hula hooping in the street. There was even a guy selling ice cream on the corner. It was _summer._

 

He’d had no real idea of how far in the future he would go but he hadn’t expected it to be _months._ It was taking everything he had to not whoop in celebration in the middle of the street. He settled instead for muttering, “Not ready, my ass,” under his breath.

 

If Five had been in his right mind, he would’ve paused, gone to a less crowded place, and considered what this meant for him. Unfortunately, he was not. He was full of adrenaline, and even though this was definitely not the first time he’d escaped the Academy, it somehow felt like his first real taste of freedom.

 

Which is why he didn’t think twice about leaping through another portal even further into the future.

 

The scene he stepped into next was quite a contrast to where he’d last been. The sun wasn’t even slightly visible in the grey sky, and it was drizzling a bit. Not many people were around at the moment, and judging from the temperature it was either late winter or early spring. And though he was exhilarated from succeeding once again, he wasn’t really as excited to be in this season as he was in the last. Oh well, he might as well keep jumping.

 

But he didn’t.

 

There was a man walking on the other side of the street that made him stop in his tracks. He wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that he had a very dark and yet simultaneously outrageous outfit. He wasn’t sure whether it was because he called out to everyone he passed and waved at them with his weirdly tattooed hands. Maybe it was just the fact that the guy demanded attention with everything he did, whether it was his clothes, his slightly manic demeanour or the fact that he was clearly high out of his mind.

Five cursed. He’d been standing staring at this guy he didn’t even know for ten seconds, trying to figure out why was so familiar about him, and that was ten seconds longer than he should’ve been. The most familiar thing about him was his eyes. Even this far away, they stood out from his face. Partly because they were covered in enough eyeliner to make him look like a raccoon, but mostly because he _knew_ him.

 

Nope, this was crazy. He needed to get out of here, go anywhere, anywhere else. He needed to be able to let things like this go. In a minute, he would realize that this guy was some child actor in an eighties sitcom, and where would that have gotten him? He was out of here.

 

And he was just about to open another portal, when the man raised his lanky arm to wave at someone else, and his coat sleeve sagged down on his bony wrist enough for Five to see he had an umbrella tattoo. And not just any umbrella tattoo, _the_ umbrella tattoo.

 

Klaus.

 

The name that had been on the tip of his tongue suddenly appeared in his mind. No-one had eyes like Klaus, because although Klaus had spent most of his time pretending to be okay, one look into his eyes told them everything they needed to know. Now, the real question was, why were Klaus’s eyes in the eyesocktets of that random man across the street?

 

Five froze in his tracks. The adrenaline drained out of him, and he was finally able to think clearly again.

 

How could that be Klaus? He’d only gone a couple of seasons into the future. This was supposed to be spring 2004, and Klaus should be around fourteen. Unless of course, he hadn’t.

 

His knees almost buckled, and he felt sick to his stomach. How far in the future had he gone? That guy was in his mid to late twenties, and if that was really Klaus, he’d been gone for much longer than he’d anticipated. And even if that _wasn’t_ Klaus (even though the more he looked at him the more Klaus’s face stared back), what in the world was he doing? Even if he’d time travelled only a year or so into the future, what had been his plan after that? At the back of his mind there’d been a half-formed idea about going to a time and place where he’d finally be free of his father, but even as he thought it he knew it was impossible. As much as it would be convenient, no plan he made could ever involve abandoning his siblings.

 

Except he apparently _had_ abandoned them, because he’d been gone so long, he was probably presumed to be dead. Oh, God. Klaus was staring directly at him, and he needed to stop having a breakdown before he permanently damaged something about this timeline. Someone shoved Klaus because he was in their way, and by the time he looked back, Five was gone.

 

Now, he was in a damp alley, hyperventilating with his head between his knees.

 

He needed to focus on getting back to where he was _supposed_ to be. Considering how badly this had gone the first few times, he was going to need to be a bit more specific about where he was headed. He stood up, dusted himself off, and thought, as hard as he could, while simultaneously trying to visualize the formula that had given him the idea the first time around, _October 2002._

 

Absolutely nothing happened.

 

He swallowed his growing panic. No big deal. That was obviously not how it worked. He just had to propel himself backwards the way he had before. Maybe it was actually nothing like his spatial jumps, and he couldn’t be accurate at all. He just needed to go back, because he couldn’t go wrong as long as he was closer to where he started out. Unless of course, he overshot _again_.

 

He’d just have to go forward again until he got back to 20023. Because that was completely logical and not at all the worst plan ever created.

 

He sighed, held up his arms, focused everything he had on tearing open a portal, and thought _backward._

 

He remained standing in an alley.

 

He was fucked.

 

 

********************************************

 

He tried for hours, until afternoon became evening, and evening became night. He recalled everything he’d ever learnt about time travel, and tried to come up with a formula that would work. He tried closing his eyes and throwing his arms in the air, he tried reciting formulas verbatim. Maybe he was seeing time wrong. Maybe it wasn’t linear, maybe it was a flat circle. Maybe taking that into account would change everything.

 

Or maybe, his father had been right all along.

 

Now, he was sitting on the sticky floor of the alley. It was getting late, and the weirdos were beginning to come out. He knew he couldn’t stay here and try until he passed out. Even though it was so far in the future that it was no longer guaranteed, he needed to go back. It was the only place he’d ever known.

 

He walked along the street like a ghost. He was covered in grime, and reeked of garbage and failure. Was this messed up future really his present? If Klaus was some weird junkie, what had happened to the rest of his siblings? To be fair, Klaus turning out like this was not surprise to anyone. Dad had always been particularly brutal with him. They’d all been, to be honest. Except Ben of course. Why hadn’t he prevented this from happening?

 

Why hadn’t Five?

 

Thankfully, it didn’t take very long to get to the Academy, since even though time travelling threw him indiscriminate periods into the future, it didn’t change his geographical location much. These random rules were frustrating in themselves, but he guessed he should be thankful for this particular one. At least he didn’t have to find his way back from the other side of the world.

 

He stood in front of the door, poised to knock. His first instinct had been to sneak around back, or spatial jump straight in, which is what he’d usually do. However, he had to take into account the fact that someone else could’ve moved into this house and he’d probably get arrested for trespassing. And even if it _was_ still the Academy, it had been over a decade since he’d been here (no matter how hard it was to wrap his brain around) and they’d probably think he was a ghost.

 

He raised his fist and knocked three times. Then he realized there was a doorbell, which was definitely new, so he rang that too.

 

He needn’t have bothered, because the doorbell had barely stopped echoing in the house before the door had swung open and he was face to face with Mom.

 

She didn’t look a day older than she hadthis morning (or more accurately, like a decade ago) but that didn’t mean much, considering she was a robot and physically couldn’t age. She looked confused for a moment, but then she smiled at him. He knew this was supposed to comfort him, but he felt nothing. He’d never taken to Mom, mostly because he couldn’t look at her without imagining Dad staring through her eyes.

 

“Five! How are you? You’ve been gone for so long.” She said, her smile not wavering in the slightest.

 

“Yeah, how long exactly?” He pushed past her and into the house. The place had been depressing as it was, but now, with no-one here, it was completely devoid of life.

 

“Sixteen years, six months and two days.” She smiled, closing the door behind her and following him into the house. “You look tired. Why don’t you take a warm shower and I’ll make you a sandwich?”

 

He ignored her and started climbing upstairs. He was tempted to ask her what had happened to his siblings, but he couldn’t find the words. It was obvious even to him that they’d all left a long time ago. He’d never thought this far into the future about where they’d end up. He’d of course hoped to be long gone by then, but his siblings were a different story. He knew even they wouldn’t have been putting on masks and crimefighting at this point, but it was hard to believe that they’d all gotten their own lives. Even Luther had apparently struck out on his own, or so it seemed. He could probably get more information from Mom, but he needed to do something first.

 

He got to got to the second floor and turned down the hall that lead to Dad’s study. Mom had gone to the kitchen, presumably to make a sandwich to solve all his problems. He trudged down the hallway, fighting the urge to turn on his heel and run. Yesterday (sixteen years ago) he wouldn’t have dreamed of bursting into the study without being summoned, but _something_ had to have changed in the sixteen years (one day) he’d been gone. He wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted from his father, but he hoped the would get it.

 

He swung the door open to reveal Pogo and Dad in the middle of what seemed to be a very serious conversation. They stopped immediately he entered, and when they saw it was him, they both had very different reactions.

 

Pogo immediately rushed forward to clasp Five’s hand in both of his much larger, much hairier ones. “Five, my boy!” He smiled, his voice full of emotion. “Where…how?” He didn’t seem able to find the words, so he just stared at him for a second, his brow furrowed in concern. “Where have you been? How did you get back?”

“Time travel.” Five said simply, as an answer to both questions. Judging from Pogo’s expression, this wasn’t much of an answer but Five was too busy staring at his father, who had glanced up once, and taken out one of those cursed leather notebooks to start writing.

 

“Number Five, back at last.” He said, without looking up from his jotting. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson. It appears you’re the same age as when you left, which is fascinating, to say the least.” He paused from writing and looked thoughtful. “What a shame.” Five had no idea what this was in response to. “Well, Pogo, don’t pepper him with too many questions. The boy needs to sleep. He’s got quite the day ahead of him.”

Five blinked. Was Dad planning to pick up with his training where he’d left off? And was that _all_ he had to say to him?

He was about to ask as much when Pogo interrupted, sounding distressed. “So does that mean Five’s arrival doesn’t change your plans at all?”

 

“On the contrary, it very much reinforces them.” Dad looked up at Pogo, the corners of his mouth turned down in a stern frown. Five registered in the back of his mind that he looked just as cold and grey as he’d ever been. Nothing much had changed. “Don’t you see that?”

 

“What plans?” Five interrupted, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. “What are you talking about?”

 

“Listen, Number Five.” Dad boomed, looking him in the eye for the first time since he’d come in. “You’re going to have to step up and unite your siblings. A great danger is coming, and you are the only ones who can stop it. Use your time wisely, and don’t let me down again.”

 

With that, he continued writing in his notebook.

 

Five dug his fingernails into his palm. That was it? That was all he had to say to him after _sixteen years_? He was pretty sure he’d gotten that same speech about saving the world a week ago, and he didn’t see how any of it was relevant to what was happening to them now. He opened his mouth to make some sort of snarky remark, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t know whether to be comforted or disappointed that even after everyone and everything was so different, his father was exactly the same.

 

He stood there next to Pogo for a moment, and then it became clear that the conversation was over. Five sighed, and stormed out, with Pogo hurrying to catch up with him.

 

“Five!” He clutched at Five’s sleeve and he begrudgingly came to a stop. “A lot has happened since you’ve been gone. I fear that you might eventually be blindsided-“

 

“Tomorrow.” Five cut him off.

 

“I assure you, it would be much easier…” he trailed off when Five glared at him. He was completely drained, physically and emotionally. Right now, all he wanted was to curl up in his bed and fall asleep. Pogo seemed to understand this, so he let his jacket go and Five all but ran to his room.

 

Within a few minutes he was lying on his bed in his monogrammed pyjamas, staring into the darkness. He was used to falling asleep with the sounds of his siblings in the rooms around him. Luther snored loud enough to rattle the walls. Allison was constantly humming. Vanya sometimes practiced violin until late into the night. Ben stayed up and chatted with Klaus for hours to help him fall asleep, because if not the only sounds coming from Klaus’s room would be muffled sobs. And Diego...well Diego woke up screaming at least twice a night. And yet Five would’ve preferred even that to this oppressive silence.

 

He lay there thinking until eventually exhaustion won out and he fell into a dreamless sleep. His last thought was about whether or not he’d ever get the chance to prove his father wrong. He had no way of knowing that he would get a definitive answer to that question so soon.

 

 

 

*********************

 

He awoke to sirens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keep the comments coming, they're amazing


	3. KLAUS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> klaus is here and things are getting crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whattt? i'm still writing this fic?  
> i kinda abandoned this fic when school and other things got way too busy, but i've finished the story in my head for months. the fact that this has such a high bookmarks to read ratio made me realise that a lot of people are intrigued by where the story is going, and so as not to blue-ball anyone, I finally wrote another chapter. I'm going to try to finish it as fast as i can, but i'm still at school so the wait might be long, but not as long as it's been up till this point. happy reading

 

 Klaus had been having a pretty great day so far.

 

He’d finally been released from rehab, after his third ninety-day stay in as many years. He hadn’t been completely sober while he was there, but sometimes he’d come pretty fucking close. He’d been ready to celebrate completing his rehab by getting as high as he possibly could. Before he knew it, he was being shocked alive by an EMT in the back of an ambulance. It had to be fate that he was there that night, because he didn’t have any mobile devices or a tv to find out the big news from. So he was pretty lucky to have almost died.

 

When his heart stopped feeling like it’d been repeatedly kicked, he was able to focus on the news that was being played on the tv.

 

His first thought? Had there always been televisions in ambulances?

 

His second thought? Ding-dong, the witch is dead.

 

Once, after a particularly excruciating night alone in the mausoleum, he’d allowed himself to entertain some very dark thoughts about finally being free to do what he wanted when his father died. But he soon realized that he, unlike his siblings, wasn’t able to see death with such finality. There was no guarantee that now that his father was dead, the bastard wouldn’t start following him around. Like Ben, except fucking awful. What a terrifying thought.

 

Okay, his situation was beginning to sound a bit dismal, but he was actually pretty happy. Sure, the questionable pill he’d found in the lining of his jacket might have something to do with that, but it also was due to his high-induced ability to look on the bright side. He was out of rehab for the first time in forever. He’d had an amazing night’s sleep in the ER. And even though it was extremely unlikely, there might be a million-dollar inheritance waiting for him.

 

He was flying high.

 

That is, until his fist was poised a centimetre away from the door and he was suddenly filled with dread. He could hear the people talking on the other side of the door, and he considered, for the first time since he’d peeled his eyes open this morning, what it meant to ben back here. The very house brought back terrible memories, not to mention the fact that he’d have to face his siblings for the first time in over a decade. They hadn’t exactly left it on good terms with each other.

 

He turned to comment about this to Ben, but stopped when he saw his expression. Ben had most likely already considered the fact that going to their father’s funeral entailed seeing their siblings. He looked about as excited as Klaus felt. Klaus was mostly alone with Ben, but he became quieter when more people were around. Hanging around more people who couldn't see or hear him must've been terribly depressing, and that was without all the drama that happened with their siblings. What were they even doing here?

 

“Hey.” Klaus startled out of his thoughts and blinked at Ben, who had an eyebrow raised. Klaus followed Ben’s eye-line to his fist, which was still hanging in front of the door. He needed to make up his mind right now. It was a terrible idea to come here. Then again, he was broke as fuck right now and there was a bunch of old shit in there that he could pawn. He didn’t hate his siblings that much. He had lots of good memories of them, excluding all the depression and whatnot. 

 

Just as he was about to convince himself to knock, the door swung open and Luther was towering over him. Almost twelve years since they’d last spoken, and he’d changed a lot. Not emotionally, because he still looked at Klaus as though he was the lowest possible stage of existence, but physically. Luther always had a way of filling up a room with his presence, and now he was actually doing it. Seriously, he could barely fit through the doorway.

 

“Number Four.” Luther didn’t look like he’d been having any kind memories of him. In fact, he looked like he had no good memories of Klaus at all, which wasn’t surprising. They’d never really understood each other.

 

“So wonderful if you to finally join us.” He glowered down like they’d agreed on a time to meet. If he’d wanted him to come earlier, he should’ve told him. Of course, Luther had no way of knowing his phone number, and even if he did, Klaus had lost his phone about two weeks ago, but that was all besides the point.

 

“Luther.” Klaus beamed. “Amazing to see you, it’s been much too long.” He’d barely finished speaking when Luther somehow spun his humongous body and walked into the house, obviously expecting Klaus to follow. He did so, deciding he’d keep the pleasantries for the siblings that would tolerate it.

 

He felt a chill as he passed through the doorway, but not because of any ghosts. The air here felt heavier, thicker, and he could feel gravity weighing on him. This house represented a part of his life that he’d tried to ignore for so long. And now he was back, he felt like every bad thing that had happened in this place was being relived. Or worse, like something even worse was going to happen now they were back.

 

He shuddered. He needed to get over this bad feeling. He was a medium, not a fucking psychic.

 

He followed Luther into the living room, where the remainder of his siblings milled about, nowhere near each other. Allison looked unimpressed, Vanya looked anxious and Diego looked mad. Wow, nothing had changed at all. Vanya was a little farther away from the others, which was understandable. He hadn’t been in contact with most of them for years so he had no idea what they’d thought of her book, but he knew immediately he read it that they’d be mad. Klaus himself didn’t mind.It was all true, how Dad had alienated Vanya, how they had never paid much attention to her, how they formed little cliques instead of being all together because of the way they were trained. He also didn’t mind because she’d been pretty nice when she wrote about him, saying “Klaus is beautiful, but irreparably broken”, which he thought summed him up pretty well. She said Diego could be “extremely obnoxious” and said that he “was more under their father’s thumb than any of them had ever been”, which explained why _he_ looked particularly mad.

 

Diego was the only one of his siblings he’d seen in the last twelve years, for the sole reason that Diego did reconnaissance for his weird vigilante missions in shady underground places, and Klaus lived in shady underground places. The last time had been…wow, had it already been a year? Klaus was living with this girl and this guy, and they partied, fucked and got into trouble. It was the first stable living situation he’d had in years. Unfortunately, it had to come to an end when the guy found out Klaus was having fun with the girl without him. Diego found Klaus lying in an alley, beaten to a pulp and surprisingly he’d helped him. When Klaus woke up, he was in a motel and there was a note from Diego saying “I paid for five days” (because Diego would rather lose money than let Klaus know where he lived). That was a nice memory.

 

God, this was awkward. He didn’t think anyone wanted a hug from him, but he had to greet them somehow, didn’t he?

 

“You all look fabulous. I’d say it’s good genes, but none of us are even slightly related.” He smiled charmingly.

 

No-one acknowledged him. It felt so much like his childhood it was beginning to get creepy.

 

Luther walked to the centre of the room. “Guys.” They all turn to look at him. Klaus could tell he was about to give one of his big speeches, so he left Ben to wander around the house and slunk over to the sofa.

 

“Something’s…happened.” Klaus was surprised. Luther actually seemed to be searching for the right words. He usually had no shortage of things to say. “I would’ve let you all know sooner but you’re all pretty hard to contact. I wanted to wait till we’re all together but that took much longer than expected.” Klaus made a point to study his nails instead of meeting his disapproving gaze. “I’ll just come out and say it I guess. F-“

 

Before he could finish his incredibly drawn out, Five walked into the room, in his pyjamas, looking like he hadn’t slept all night. Yes, that Five. _Five._

 

Klaus immediately turned around to see if anyone else was seeing this. He didn’t think that pill was acid, but then again he had no idea what it was. Could it also be possible he was seeing Five’s ghost? That seemed unlikely as well. As elusive as Five was, he didn’t think he would’ve been able to fuck off to wherever he’d been for the past decade without Klaus at least sensing that he’d died.

 

His siblings' expressions mirrored his own. Vanya looked especially shaken, probably because she’d blamed herself for Five’s assumed death for so long. So he _had_ seen him yesterday. he’d been gone so quickly, and Klaus had of course moved on. There was no point dwelling on it, or so he’d thought.

Five’s face dropped. “You have to be kidding me.” He muttered. Klaus seemed to be the only one that heard him. He turned to Luther, who looked considerably less shocked than the rest of them. “Why didn’t you tell them?”

 

All their heads whipped around to face Luther, who was grimacing. How long had he known about this? What the fuck was going on?

 

“I only found out this morning.” Luther insisted. “I wanted to wait till we were all together, but since that took so long…” he trailed off, looking guilty.

 

They were all frozen for a moment, at the sheer weight of what had just happened. Then Vanya walked across the room to Five and wrapped her arms around him. After a beat, Allison crossed over and put a hand on his shoulder. She and Five had never been particularly close, but after having her baby she’d become much less self-centred and her maternal instinct had blossomed. At least, that’s what he’d read in a magazine three years ago.

 

Five remained tense under their touch. He’d never been much of a hugger, and Klaus suspected that returning after being missing for sixteen odd years was the only situation he’d allow it. Klaus was debating whether or not to get one in when Five gently but determinedly wriggled out from their grasp.

 

“That’s enough.” He said, surprisingly with no malice. This whole thing was so trippy. Five was here, exactly the same as they’d last seen him, which could only mean-

 

“So you actually did it?” Diego’s voice held a note of incredulous amusement. “You actually fucking time travelled.”

 

“I got here yesterday.” Five confirmed. “By the time I realized I’d gone too far it was too late. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t…” he trailed off, face tightening in frustration. He sighed. Vanya still stood incredibly close to him, and Five still showed no sign of protest. Even though he was still the asshole Klaus knew, he seemed a little off his game. Klaus couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to suddenly find yourself surrounded by strangers who were only the tiniest bit familiar when they’d been your siblings only yesterday. Wait, he could imagine that. Something very similar was happening to him right now.

 

Luther obviously couldn’t think of a good way to transition from Five’s unexpected appearance to the death of their father (which Klaus had half-forgotten by now) because he just started talking as though none of it had happened. “Well, now that we’re all here, we should plan the funeral. He’s already been cremated, and we’ll hold a service later today-“

 

“Does this really require that much planning?” Klaus interjected, and Luther glowered at him. “Couldn’t we just flush him down the toilet and be done with it?” Diego snickered.

 

“He deserves that much. it’s not like it’s a big service with a lot of people.” Luther seemed to dislike Klaus’ interjections as much as he always had. Glad to know nothing had changed.

 

“Yeah, cause he has no friends.” Diego supplied. God, this really felt like he was thirteen. Five was back, he and Diego were annoying Luther, Allison acted above all of it, and Vanya had no reaction, although Klaus suspected she was amused.

 

Before they could continue their pointless back and forth, Five spoke up.

 

“What do you mean we’re all here?” All eyes were immediately on him, as the novelty of his presence was yet to wear off. “Where’s Ben?”

 

There was a collective intake of breath. _Fuck._ He hadn’t even considered this posing a possibility, he’d been too preoccupied with the fact that Five’s sudden and glaring presence that he hadn’t thought to fill him in on anything that had happened in the last decade, and by the looks on his siblings' faces, none of them had either.

 

Allison glared at Luther. “You’ve been here since the morning, you couldn’t tell him?”She hissed, as though Five wouldn’t hear from his position a foot away.

 

“I assumed Pogo would’ve told him last night. Would you have been able to tell him?” Luther hissed back, much to Five’s growing displeasure.

 

“Tell me _what._ ” Klaus could tell that he already half-knew what was going on. Five was smart after all. All this beating around the bush was only aggravating him.

 

After a beat, Luther sighed deeply. “When we were sixteen, Ben and I went on a mission without any of the others…” He tuned out the rest. This was only the second time ever that Luther was repeating this story, but Klaus had heard it a thousand times. In his mind, over and over, trying to rationalize it into anything that would give him the answer he wanted. Ben wasn’t dead, Ben was missing, he’d gotten lost but he’d be back soon. It would’ve been hard to convince himself even if Ben the Ghost wasn’t constantly hanging around as a reminder.

 

They all stared at Five, waiting for his reaction. Klaus had no idea what to expect. Five had never been one for affection; he generally expressed his love by telling them to not be stupid. and when Five’s face crumpled, Klaus had to swallow his surprise.

 

It had been so long and his siblings were so foreign to him that he’d forgotten that they’d deeply cared about each other at one point. They’d all cried for Ben, and they’d all reunited in mourning him. Of course Five was crying, because Ben was their brother, and he’d died for no good reason, none at all that Klaus could think of. It made Klaus wonder whether if he’d died last night, any of his siblings would cry for him, or whether they were too far gone.

 

Ben was suddenly behind Klaus, back from wherever he went when he wasn’t with him. He didn’t need to look back to know that he felt heartbroken; he could feel the grief from here. All the memories were flooding in and Klaus was no longer numb enough to stop them. Ben’s body, bloody and broken in Luther’s arms. His siblings' tearstained faces. A rushed funeral so they could get back to their training. Ben, his only sympathizer, joining the legions of ghosts that tormented him.

 

God, this was depressing. He’d known he was here for a funeral but he hadn’t expected to be _sad._ What a turn of events.

 

After not even thirty seconds of silent, angry tears, Five abruptly stood up and turned around to leave the room. Klaus wanted to reach out, to comfort him, to do something. Seeing him so young and vulnerable had brought out an unexpected need to take care of him. But, as usual, there wasn’t a single thing Klaus could do to help. Unless-

 

He didn’t know whether it was all the emotion, or the drugs, or maybe the fact that he had a bad habit of sticking his foot in his mouth. But before Five could leave, Klaus blurted out, “He isn’t gone.” Five hesitated. “He’s kind of always with me. It’s kind of annoying.” He let out an awkward laugh.

 

“What the fuck?” Ben asked incredulously. “What was the point of that?”

 

Ben was right. He had no idea whether knowing Ben was just chilling somewhere near them as a ghost would comfort Five at all. And after everything that happened with the others-

 

Five turned around and eyed Klaus up and down. The whole room seemed to be holding its breath.

 

“Is he here?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's gonna be two chapters per pov, so the next is Klaus still. also, i tried to make Five seem more young in this chapter, because even though we know young five was a sarcastic asshole just like old five, i believe he'd be a little bit softer and more tolerant of his siblings' shenanigans. also, he's in shock and is suffering from time travel fatigue, so that's why he's so bleh this chapter. whoops, didn't give ben any dialogue, at least thats canon already


	4. KLAUS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little more insight into Klaus' past, and a little more baby Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she's back???? she has a midterm today??? but she's back???

“No, he’s not.”

 

Before Klaus had the chance to answer, Diego had butt in. “Are you fucking serious?” His face was contorted in anger. “Now’s not the time for your games, Klaus.”

 

Why, oh, why, hadn’t he kept his big mouth shut? “Diego, I’m serious. He’s here, and he’s been with me almost every second since he died-“

 

“He’s here right now? You can see him?” Diego rose and crossed the room in one stride, bearing down on Klaus. “You expect me to believe you’re sober right now?” He opened his mouth to protest but Diego barrelled on. “Don’t tell me you can see him regardless, we all know how this works. We learned the hard way.”

Five looked between Klaus and Diego, who were now standing way too close. He looked at Klaus for a long moment, and Klaus tried his best to communicate with his eyes. There was something that looked a little like hope in Five’s gaze. Had he been momentarily comforted by what he’d said? Maybe he’d almost believed him, because Five had no reason to see him as the hopeless junkie that everyone else knew him as. But now though, he seemed to decide that none of this was worth it, and he left the room.

 

Klaus wanted to reach out to him, but Diego grabbed his wrist. “Just stop.” He was putting on a little more pressure than was strictly necessary. “You’ve done enough.”

 

“Why would he lie?” Vanya piped up, and Klaus stared. Why would she stand up for him? She never even stood up for herself. “What could he possibly gain?”

 

Allison pursed her lips. “Vanya-“

 

“Shut up, Vanya, this is none of your business.” Diego snarled, turning his attention to her. God, he must’ve been waiting all day for a chance to attack.

 

“C’mon, Diego. He wouldn’t lie about Ben.” She insisted. Klaus felt something like warmth in his chest. “And I know you’re going to say I don’t know anything about it because I wasn’t there, or it doesn’t involve me-“

 

“Yeah, because you _weren’t._ Because we just loved to exclude you, didn’t we? Save it for your next book.” He let go of Klaus’ wrist and pointed at Vanya. “ _You_ know nothing about this, Vanya. Don’t stick your mouth where it doesn’t belong. Why did you even come here, anyway? Made such a big deal about how you’re not part of the family, yet here you are.”

 

“Will you _get over the book_? I meant no offence to any of you, I just wanted to tell my side of the story since no-one ever _listens_ to me.” She sighed and massaged her temples. Allison looked worried, and Luther looked ready to step in at any moment. “You know what? You’re right. I should never have come here.” She stood up and stalked out of the room.

 

This time, Klaus didn’t hesitate to follow her out to the lobby. “Wait.”

She slowed down, stuck her hand into her pocket and took out her pill bottle. She’d been on those things since they were kids. She took one out and swallowed it dry.

 

“I appreciate you sticking up for me, but there’s no point. They’re right.” He tried to ignore the spike in his heart rate he’d gotten from seeing the pills. “I’m not lying, but I have before. I don’t blame them for thinking that way.”

 

It had been just after Vanya had left, and the four of them were miserable. The training regimen was more taxing than ever, and dear old Dad seemed to think that the four of them could take the same amount of work they’d done when there were six of them. After being overworked most of the day, the nights they slept like the dead. But not Klaus. Klaus spent every moment in a living nightmare. He’d of course started experimenting by then; the occasional glass of vodka from Dad’s stash, a pack of cigarettes, some cough syrup. But it was then, when he was at his lowest, that he’d finally stolen cash from his Dad and snuck out with the intention of finding something stronger. He had no experience at all, and eventually ended up being grossly overcharged for some Xanax by some guy behind a bar, but that had been the first time he could remember the voices quieting, and of course, once he’d gone in, there was no coming back.

 

“It doesn’t matter what happened before. You’re not lying now.” Vanya insisted. “That should count for something.”

 

He felt his heart squeeze. Had she always been so nice to him? He’d never much related to Vanya, because she wanted powers so badly and he’d give anything to be rid of his. She’d always been really sweet, but incredibly reserved, and once Five and Ben were gone they’d both focused more on their own problems than continuing to get to know each other. What a shame. Hopefully it wasn’t too late.

 

As she was about to open the door, he called out, “You could always stay. Don’t let Diego and Luther make you feel like you don’t belong.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be back at some point. After all, Five is back.” She smiled thinly. “Make sure he’s okay? I’d do it, but I feel like he’s had enough of me for today.”

 

“Sure. I mean, I’ll try.” Klaus was pretty sure Five had had enough of him to last several weeks, but he would still try to talk to him. Vanya smiled weakly, glanced at the stairs as if she was waiting for something, and walked out the door. He wondered whether if the tables were turned he would’ve defended her. He couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer, so he sighed and went upstairs to look for Five.

 

The first place he checked was his room of course, and it gave him a weird feeling to see it looking lived in. There wasn’t a speck of dust on anything, because Mom had always made the bed along with everyone else’s, as though anyone was going to sleep there. Five was nowhere to be seen, so he closed the door and went back into the hallway.

 

He noticed movement behind the slightly open door of Dad’s. That made him feel weird too. It would’ve been firmly shut if Dad was alive, so as not to accidentally encourage children to enter.

 

He opened the door wider and walked in, expecting to see Five glaring at him. Unfortunately, it was just Ben. “Ugh, it’s you. Have you seen Five?”

 

“Nope. If he doesn’t want you to find him, then you probably won’t. This is a big house.” Ben studied the books on the desk with idle interest. “And he’s definitely avoiding you. I mean, you do a lot of stupid things, but that might’ve made the top twenty.”

 

“No-one asked you.” He followed Ben’s eyeline to the table, and he suddenly remembered the main reason he’d come here. He walked over to the desk and tugged on the drawers one by one. Three were locked, but one opened easily. In it was an ornate wooden box, covered in gold swirls.

 

“What are you doing?” Ben asked, immediately suspicious.

 

“This’ll probably get me sixty bucks at the pawn shop. Seventy, depending on who’s working.” They hated him over at the pawn shop. They thought he tried to overcharge them for everything, and they were right.

 

Ben scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes, but said nothing. He knew why Klaus needed this money, but he seemed to have realized like he sometimes did, that short of punching him in the face, nothing was going to stop Klaus from doing what he wanted. This wouldn’t last long, and by the time the drugs were in his hand he’d start whining again, Klaus was sure of it.

 

Before he could decide if it was worth trying to hide the box at the funeral or whether he should just slip out before he annoyed anyone else, Five walked through the doorway. His expression was nonchalant, as though he hadn’t left the room in tears a few moments ago. Klaus decided not to mention it.

 

“Why do they think you’re lying?” Five had never been one for beating around the bush, had he?

 

“’They’? So you believe me?” Klaus could see Ben shaking his head from the corner of his eye.

 

“Obviously not. Why would I believe you if no-one else believes you?” He eyed the box in Klaus’ hand, brows furrowed. “I just want to know why they don’t believe you so I know why not to believe you.”

 

Ben snickered, and Klaus glared at him. 

“You just said the word ‘believe’ way too much, but that’s neither here nor there.” Five no longer looked as distressed as he had a moment ago, even though his eyes were a little bloodshot. Klaus tried to place the emotion in his face; grief, frustration, anger? Guilt? Did his brother actually feel guilty about this? What possible reason could he have to think that he’d in any way caused Ben’s death?

 

Should he actually tell him? He’d wanted to convince Five that he’d been telling the truth, but wouldn’t this explanation reverse any chance of that happening? He sighed. Might as well, since he’d never believe him anyway.

 

At first when he’d finally found a way to make himself numb, he’d been careful. He’d only do take a couple pills at night, when the voices were too loud and he couldn’t bear it. He wasn’t picky; whatever he could get his hands on he either swallowed or injected into his bloodstream, and washed it down with Dad’s whiskey for good measure. At first, his siblings had noticed he was acting weird, but he always acted weird. Besides, they were all preoccupied with their training. Klaus was great at pretending to be fine, and his siblings were great at turning a blind eye even when he slipped up.

 

Of course, it didn’t stay like that for long. Sure, he’d started doing drugs for what he considered to be a good reason, but that didn’t mean he got to stop needing them even on days he was feeling good. He started to wonder what was the point of only being numb some of the time. So he started getting high, all the time, and even then things didn’t seem that bad. Klaus’ powers were only useful in very specific situations, so he was able to stand in the back, tripping balls while his siblings did most of the work. Until one day, Dad sent them on a mission to search a shady pharmaceutical company whose lab had exploded in some kind of freak accident. It was supposed to be strictly reconnaissance, and most of their witnesses were dead, so it was Klaus’ time to shine. Only problem was, Klaus hadn’t been sober enough to see a ghost in months. He’d gone along with it, because it was supposed to be an abandoned laboratory. Worst case, they’d go there, Klaus would give some vague answers and they’d get off his back. They soon discovered it _wasn’t_ abandoned, when they’d turned the corner and nearly gotten taken down in a spray of bullets.

 

Klaus wasn’t useful in regular fights, and the one time talking to a ghost could’ve helped, he’d been too high and had almost gotten them all killed. So yeah, it made sense why everyone was just a tad bit suspicious.

 

Klaus didn’t tell Five this in as many words, but he gave him the gist. Five’s expression didn’t change at any point during the explanation, even though this all had to be new information to him.“But I swear, I can still see Ben. Even when I’m high out of my mind, I’ve never been able to get rid of him. Even when I don’t know where he is, I can sense him. It’s like he’s tied to me with some kind of invisible string. It’s really annoying.”

 

“Love you too, bro.” Ben muttered.

 

Five regarded him through slitted eyes, unimpressed. He didn’t look entirely convinced, which Klaus had expected, but he also wasn’t laughing in his face, which he hadn’t. Five had never exactly trusted Klaus to do things, but at least at the time he left, he’d known Klaus wouldn’t lie about something like this for his own amusement. Then again, Klaus could be wrong and Five hated him, seeing as he was getting all this information from Five’s not-at-all easy to read face.

 

Before Klaus could ask Five whether he believed him, he teleported to Klaus’ left and pointed at the box. Klaus had half-forgotten about it honestly.

 

“What’s that?” Five asked sliding the box out of Klaus’ grip and bending closer to peer at it. “Where did you find it?”

Klaus had to take a moment to process that Five had just glazed over their whole conversation so casually, and also the fact that he was suddenly standing so close. Even after sixteen years, the spatial jumps were still incredibly unsettling. “I don’t know, it was in Dad’s desk.”  
  
“What were you doing in Dad’s desk?” Five asked without looking up. His tiny fingers were already at work trying to force open the box. Jesus, what did he want?

 

“Looking for memorabilia. You know, something I could take to remind me of him.” His voice shook with fake emotion. “That particular box was actually something I wanted to keep, you know, for memories of, uh, good times…” he trailed off when Five opened the box and started rummaging around inside. From what Klaus could see, it was mostly empty, with only a couple of pens and one of those godforsaken notebooks that Dad was always scribbling in. Mostly worthless then, except for the box itself.

 

Five turned the notebook over in his hand. “Didn’t you always wonder what he was writing in these?” He asked, almost to himself.

 

Klaus grimaced. “Not really. He always told me exactly what he thought of me.” An oppressive, almost heavy feeling had settled around his throat. He imagined old Reggie siting at the desk he was perched at, ignoring Klaus when he so desperately needed his attention.

 

He shivered. He needed to leave. “Look, Five, I’m gonna go. I’m sorry about…everything.” He straightened and gathered his coat around himself, even though it was stiflingly warm in the room. “Come to the funeral if you’re up to it. Or don’t, no-one really cares. Oh, and Vanya left, but she said she’s going to come see you later.” Klaus wondered what would happen to him when all this funeral business was over and they went back to pretending each other didn’t exist. Would he be all alone in this big house? Or worse, would he be stuck with Luther?

 

Five didn’t look up as he left the room, still studying the notebook closely. Klaus would come back for the box later, and if he got sixty bucks for this, then this whole day would be worth it.

 

He hadn’t fully descended the stairs before he could hear Luther and Diego yelling at each other. He shared a look with Ben. Those two had never needed a reason to argue, had they?

 

He slipped through the doorway, Ben following closely behind. “What’d I miss?” He asked, even though he had a pretty good idea already. Diego and Luther stood facing each other, hostility radiating from both of them. Diego had his fists clenched and teeth bared in a snarl. “We all having a friendly chat?” He asked, sitting on the couch and folding his legs underneath him.

 

“Number One was just accusing our long lost _thirteen-year-old_  brother of _murdering_ our father.”

 

Okay, Klaus had _not_ had as good a grasp on the situation as he thought he had. “ _What?_ ”

 

“Look, I’m not accusing Five of anything.” Luther insisted. “I’m just saying, isn’t it a hell of a coincidence that he managed to time travel to the exact day that Dad died? If he’s telling the truth when he says he has no grasp on time travel. Besides, something about Dad’s death doesn’t feel right.”

 

“He died of a heart attack, Luther. Before jumping to conclusions, you might want to consider what the autopsy says. You might also want to consider the fact that Five is a _child_.”

 

“Don’t act like Five was ever just a normal kid. None of us were, especially not him. He’s killed plenty before. Plus, he’s always had a problem with Dad-“

 

“I thought you said you weren’t accusing him.” Allison muttered, looking like she was at her wits’ end. Klaus felt sorry she’d had to deal with this alone the ten minutes he was gone.

 

“We all have a problem with dad! Do you suspect all of us now?”

 

Luther’s hesitation was enough of an answer.

 

“You fucking-“ Diego reached for his pocket. Luther drew his fist back. Allison cringed, and Ben looked like he wished he had popcorn. Were they actually about to fight, right now? They _really_ needed to get over themselves.

 

Unfortunately, the world would never see what could’ve happened. Five called out from where he’d suddenly appeared in the doorway, holding Dad’s notebook. “Guys?” Luther and Diego tried to look like they hadn’t just been having a screaming match about whether or not Five killed Dad.

 

Five himself, had an emotion that Klaus had never once seen him wear: uncertainty. He thrust the notebook towards them. “I think you need to see this.”  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in luther's defense, it is a hell of a coincidence...almost like it's some kinda, plot device???  
> most people guessed that everyone would be mad at klaus (because duh) but i'm sure noone expected we'd be getting into vanya's powers already. but yes, we are, because we don't got no time to waste. next chapter is allison, so hold on to your horses, there's about to be some angst
> 
> the main reason i told that story about klaus and the sibs almost dying is because i've always wondered why none of them ever believe a word that comes out of his mouth when he's always so honest (a little too honest sometimes). something had to have happened, so high klaus on a mission was born. man, he must've been so useless, but great to hang out with


	5. Allison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> allison and the rest of her siblings are bombarded with even more unexpected news, and allison comes to a realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unfortunately i'm still alive
> 
> the next time this is updated will probably in a few years time but you're all used to this

 

Allison forced her breathing to steady. She wasn’t going to let herself have a meltdown. She hadn’t been through everything she had to break down in the back of a taxi. She’d just thought today would play out a lot differently. She’d planned to tolerate Klaus and Diego, maybe have a conversation with Vanya and see how she was doing, go to the funeral and be on a return flight by ten. As for Luther…well, she’d tried to keep him out of her mind.

 

Of course, everything had been turned on its head. Luther was hiding something from her, and it was obvious he needed help. She’d found herself less annoyed by her siblings than she thought she’d be. She’d been considering staying an extra day when the bombs started dropping one by one. Five was inexplicably back, and no-one seemed to be making as big a deal as they should’ve been. Klaus may or may not have been haunted by Ben for the last thirteen years. She’d absorbed these, and of course she was shaken up, but she maintained her composure. She wasn’t about to let her family suck her back into all their drama. She’d come here to momentarily show he face and leave, back to California where Claire was waiting.

 

But then, just when she’d thought she couldn’t be more surprised, Five proved her wrong. He’d knocked loose a memory from the deep recesses of her brain, and it was tearing her apart. 

 

Vanya.

 

************************************

 

Five burst into the room, fortunately interrupting Luther and Diego before they could kill each other. “I think you need to see this.” He held out a notebook that looked incredibly familiar. Was that one of Dad’s? For a short while she’d been obsessed with knowing what was in those things, but then she’d realized that literally nothing he wrote could justify ignoring them all the time.

 

Diego, being the one closest to Five, grabbed it and started reading aloud. “‘Journal of the Abilities of the Special Children’?” He scowled. “So this is what he was always writ-“

 

“Keep reading.” Five interrupted, impatient as ever. Why was he so agitated?

 

Diego reluctantly complied, turning the page. His face dropped. “‘Number Seven’? What possible reason could he have to keep a journal about Vanya?”

 

The sentence was barely out of his mouth when Five snatched the book. “Oh, for Christ’s sake.” He muttered, flipping pages furiously. “Here. ‘I began to assess Number Seven today. Her abilities have already shown themselves multiple times, being strongly linked to emotion.’” He flipped a few more pages. “‘Number Seven possesses forceful and destructive telekinetic abilities, which allow her to convert sound into blasts of energy.” He paused one more time and flipped to almost the middle of the book. “‘Repeated training does not seem to improve Number Seven’s restraint, and have instead made it clear that she is much more powerful than was once thought. I have resolved to construct a new nanny impervious to her attacks, as three have already fallen victim to her tantrums. Her control, or lack thereof, has me fearful that if care is not taken, she may be able to cause the end of the world.”

 

They sat in shocked silence for a moment, none of them able to find the right words to say. Allison was surprised but more than anything else she felt dread churning in her stomach. When Five had begun reading aloud, she’d felt a tug at the back of her mind that she couldn’t quite place. But before the last sentence had left his mouth, she’d already known what he was going to say. She’d heard Dad tell her that Vanya had the power to end the world a long time ago, when he’d forced her to Rumour away Vanya’s knowledge of her powers. She felt the air whoosh out of her lungs as the weight of the situation hit her.

 

Vanya had been cheated out of her powers. And it was all her fault.

 

Once the shock had subsided, her siblings, of course, had a lot of opinions regarding the matter.

 

Luther broke the silence. “What else is in there? How’d he get rid of her powers, or maybe they’re dormant?” Before Five could answer, Luther had grabbed the journal and begun leafing through it. “Surely powers so dangerous couldn’t be subdued easily?” He muttered, mostly to himself. Allison shook her head. That wasn’t what they needed to be talking about right now.

 

“Or maybe…” Diego couldn’t seem to find the right words. “Maybe she never had powers. Maybe this is all some trick.”

 

Luther scoffed, not looking up. “And why exactly would Dad want to fool us into thinking that Vanya has powers? Besides, he couldn’t _possibly_ have foreseen us finding this journal in his desk drawer.”

 

“Couldn’t he, though?” Five interjected, sauntering over to the shelf behind the sofa and running his hands over the gaudy trinkets that decorated the surface. “I mean, is it so hard to believe that Klaus would immediately try to pawn everything he could find? It’s no coincidence that that drawer was unlocked. I’ve snooped around that desk hundreds of times, and not once has any drawer ever been open.”

 

Allison groaned internally. They needed to get over this. Now that they’d learned this, or in Allison’s case re-learned, that needed to tell Vanya. Now that she was conscious of what she’d done, she didn’t want to fail Vanya any more than she already had. “It’s true. Trust me.” She blurted without thinking.

 

Diego narrowed his eyes at her.

 

Before he could question why she was so certain, Klaus spoke up. “Not exactly sure how much this does for the argument, but the nanny thing is true. Occasionally, I’d see these maid-looking ghosts hanging around Vanya. Their necks hung at unnatural angles like they were broken, and they’d always get really agitated whenever she was playing violin. Once I even tried to communicate with one of them, but from what I could tell she wanted me to kill Vanya and I unfortunately did not possess the skill to do so.”

 

Diego turned his suspicious gaze to Klaus. “Your ghost stories seem a little extra convenient today, Klaus. Is there any reason you’ve never mentioned that there were ghosts that wanted to kill Vanya?”

  
Klaus rolled his eyes. “It’d take years to tell you about every slightly murderous ghost that roams around this billion-year-old house. I don’t have that kind of time.”

 

Diego had some kind of deadpan response to that, but Allison was no longer listening. She thought of Vanya, perpetually alone, only ever wanting to be a part of what they were doing. She thought of her young self, who’d felt bad but consoled absolved herself of blame by telling herself it wasn’t her fault that Vanya was ordinary. And now, she’d come to learn that it quite literally was.

 

She was yet to fully come to terms with this fact, but she knew that if she didn’t say something, her siblings were destined to waste a bunch of time bickering and they’d never move forward. she stood up, which managed to get a few of her siblings’ attention. “Vanya does have powers.” She took a deep breath. “I know because I rumoured her into believing she didn’t.”

 

_That_ got everyone’s attention. Even Luther’s head shot up in shock.

 

“I haven’t always known.” She was quick to assure them. “Well, maybe I have, but the memories weren’t accessible. I must’ve shoved them in the back of my mind, but I definitely remember what happened now. Dad told me to rumour Vanya into thinking she was ordinary, and I did.” Diego opened his mouth to say something, probably regarding how and why he didn’t believe her, but she cut him off. “Look, it doesn’t matter what you guys think. We need to tell Vanya, right now. She’s been lied to her whole life.”

 

“Yeah, by you.” Five muttered from behind her.

 

“That’s the opposite of what we should be doing.” Luther piped up, slamming the journal closed. “You heard what Klaus said. She’s killed multiple people. The more of this journal I read, the more convinced I am that Dad was right. She’s dangerous.”

 

Allison stared at him, trying desperately to understand what he was thinking. What had happened to him since she last saw him? She’d thought he’d only changed physically, but it was more than that. The Luther she knew, no matter how much of a suck-up he was, would never write off one of their siblings without even hearing their side of the story.

 

He stared back at her, as though he was confused she was fighting him on this.

 

She walked over to him and gently slid the book out of his hand. “She’s Vanya. She couldn’t even watch you and Diego play-fight without getting worried. She’d never hurt anyone.” He opened his mouth to protest and she quickly corrected herself. “At least on purpose. She was four at the beginning of that journal, she was definitely just throwing a tantrum, not actively trying to murder anyone. You know what that’s like, don’t you?”

 

Luther’s early adolescence was characterized by an exceptional amount of property damage, and none of them would ever let him forget it.

 

She’d been staring at him for a beat too long, so she turned to the rest of the room. “Right now, I’m going to go give Vanya this journal. Does anyone have any objections?”

 

She stared at Diego, knowing he was the only one who could possibly say yes, but he was mercifully silence. Maybe he’d decided that if Dad hadn’t wanted Vanya to know something, then she had to know. Either way, Allison was grateful. She turned to the door, thoughts of her father’s funeral very far from her mind, when something occurred to her. She stopped at the door.

 

“Do any of you know where Vanya lives?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pretty short chapter, but as i was writing this i realised that certain characters have way more plot-heavy chapters than others. i'll make sure to mention allison and luther's relationship and claire and everything in the next chapter, but that means it will probably be seven million words and will take forever.


	6. ALLISON

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> drama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back. had finals so long ago, for some reason haven't been that hyped about writing Allison's chapter, probably because i don't know that much about her. but here we are nonetheless

And after all the pointless arguing, and the near existential crisis in the taxi, she was here, on Vanya’s doorstep.

 

There’d been a long moment after she’d posed the question of where Vanya lived where she'd been afraid none of her siblings knew. She wouldn’t blame them. She didn’t know any of their addresses (to be completely honest she was about seventy percent sure Klaus was homeless) and she’d made sure they didn’t know hers. As all of her siblings had given each other bashful looks, she’d wondered if she’d just have to wait for her to come back. This wouldn’t be a problem if she’d had Vanya’s phone number, but unfortunately, she was without that as well. She was beginning to feel guilty, and she could tell her siblings were too.

 

Then, in an unexpected turn of events, Diego had piped up with the address. He’d refused to make eye contact with her, and he’d almost said it to himself, but there was no doubt. She’d wanted to press him further but there was no time. She’d had to put a pin in it and planned to interrogate him later.

 

And so thanks to Diego, here she stood. She reached out tentatively and knocked three times. Her hand had barely withdrawn form the door when Vanya yanked it open and stood before her, looking puzzled at first, and then very confused once she realized who was standing in front of her. “Allison?” She blinked up at her like this was the least likely place to find her, which it kind of was. “Why are you here?”

 

Allison pushed past her into the apartment before she could stop her. “We need to talk.” The apartment was small and badly lit, with a kind of mustiness hanging in the air. It was littered in a not entirely unpleasant way, with books and various knickknacks Vanya must’ve taken a liking to. It reminded Allison of her first apartment, the one she’d rumoured the landlord into giving her for free. She went and sat on the well-worn couch, and looked back at Vanya, who was staring at her like she was crazy.

 

“Do we? Because whenever I try to talk to you guys, you dismiss me like I don’t know what I’m talking about, just because I don’t have any stupid powers.” Some emotion must’ve shown on Allison’s face because Vanya raised an eyebrow. “Or are you here to apologize for what just happened?” There was amusement in Vanya’s eyes, probably because Allison wasn’t exactly known for apologizing. She was more known for stubbornly believing she knew best and therefore didn't need to apologize. In her defence, she absolutely did and all her siblings needed to listen to her more.

 

“No.” Vanya sighed and crossed her arms. “Well, yes.” Allison relented, beginning to rummage around in her handbag. “Diego was being an asshole and I should’ve said something.” She pulled the book out, and it occurred to her that there had been countless other times where she should’ve said something. “But that’s not why I came here.” She held the book up, and Vanya, after a moment of thought, walked over and grabbed it. “You need to read that. Like, right now.”

 

Vanya turned the book over in her hands. “One of Dad’s notebooks?” She frowned. “You came all the way here to show me this? Why?”

 

Allison bit her lip. She wondered if she should just come right out and say it. But she’d barely skimmed through the book, and there was a lot more that Vanya needed to know. _Deserved_ to know. “The book explains better than I can. Just…read it. Please.”

 

Vanya looked incredulous, but she nonetheless took a seat on the couch and opened the book. “This better be good-“ she stopped as she read the title. She looked up, uncertainty clouding her features. “I swear Allison if this is some kind of trick-“

 

“I swear it’s not.” Allison was quick to insist. “This is the book as we found it, and that’s what Dad himself wrote there.”

 

Vanya looked suspicious, rightly so. Nonetheless, after she gave Allison a long, searching look, she reopened the book and continued to read.

 

 

***************

 

 

Thirty minutes passed in silence, then an hour. The journal couldn’t be more than thirty pages total, and by that point Allison was unsure whether Vanya had been reading for the past few minutes or just staring at the page in shock. She hazarded a glance at Vanya for the first time in what felt like forever and she saw that she’d closed the book and was sitting, her back rigid, and her gaze fixed on some point in the horizon. She looked angry, angrier than Allison had even thought she could get. And now she was going to have to tell her the rest of the story.

 

“Vanya.”

 

She looked at Allison, angry tears filling her eyes. “I don’t understand.” She stood up and began to pace. “I mean, what possible reason could he-“ she dragged her hands over her face, muffling her words, “-have to...I mean, I guess it was too dangerous? But since when has that ever been an issue with him? And, according to this, I’ve… _killed_.” She walked back to the couch and sat back down. “Multiple people.” The tears were flowing freely now and showed no signs of stopping. “It’s just so _much_.” She looked as if she desperately needed Allison to understand.

 

And she did. She’d felt a similar feeling when she’d found out. And as much as she’d like to offer her sympathy to Vanya and rebuke their father and try and help her make sense of things, she had to tell her the whole truth first. Because she knew any sympathy would feel disingenuous after the fact, and Vanya, more than any of them, deserved the whole truth.

 

So instead of offering any semblance of comfort, she said, “I’m the one who rumoured you’re into thinking you were ordinary.” Vanya stared at her in utter disbelief but she pressed on. “It’s my fault this happened to you.”

 

“That wasn’t in the journal.” Vanya muttered, brows furrowed. She stood up. “Does that mean you knew? That Dad kept my powers from me, have you known this entire time-“

 

“No!” Allison interrupted, holding up her hands. “I swear Vanya, I’d never do that to you. I only realized after the rest of us found your journal. When I heard the words out loud, itkind of awakened the memory inside me...” God, now she sounded like a lunatic and Vanya didn’t look even a little placated. “It’s hard to explain-“

 

“Hard to explain? I think you can find a way.” Vanya crossed her arms. “You’ve never had a problem talking yourself out of things, so this should be easy. Were you or were you not aware of what Dad did to me? Did you have a part to play?”

 

Vanya rarely ever got angry, and the sight of it was so unfamiliar to her that Allison had no idea what to do. She didn’t have a better explanation; that had been the best she had, but Vanya needed one or she’d think Allison had been lying to her all her life and she’d hate her forever. She shook her head in a gesture of helplessness, and Vanya violently raked a hand through her hair.

 

Then, Dad’s words occurred to her. How she’d supposedly killed those nannies. As Vanya looked down at Allison on the couch, rage pouring from every orifice, she couldn’t help but wonder whether Dad might’ve been right. Was she the same as she’d been as a child? Was she truly too dangerous to handle?

 

Then, Vanya’s face crumpled and Allison chided herself. This was Vanya she was talking about. The Vanya who’d fuss over their injuries when they came back from missions, the same Vanya she’d giggle with all night in the early days, before things had gotten complicated. No matter what mistakes Vanya had made, she’d been a child. She’d deserved the opportunity to learn control of her powers like the rest of them. She didn’t have a malicious bone in her body, and the fact that Allison had even considered Dad’s point of view for one second proved that she wasn’t fit to judge. None of them were.

 

She stood up and put her arms around Vanya’s rigid body, slowly, to provide her with the chance the refuse. When that didn’t happen, she hugged tighter and whispered, “I swear I didn’t remember. I would never do that to you.”

 

Vanya’s body relaxed against her as she sobbed wordlessly into her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> up next is vanya. i realised i needed to hurry the time progression because there's eight days till the apocalypse does or doesn't happen and the last 6 chapters have been over the course of one day if i keep updating at the rate that i have, season three will be out by the time i'm done


	7. Vanya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya is confused. also some Five, in case you were wondering why this fic had his name in the title if he was barely gonna be in it

  


Vanya’s last few days had been some of the craziest in recent memory.

  


First, Dad died, and then Five reappeared, and then she’d found out she’d had powers all this time. But another thing that had happened that was just as crazy as all that, was the fact that Allison had been staying in her apartment for the last two days. Allison, who dissociated herself from the rest of them so successfully that having her in her tiny apartment felt akin to living with one of the early two thousands teen movie stars that they’d both loved so much. Not to say that it hadn’t been fun. The last two days had mirrored the best point in their sisterhood, before the missions had become so frequent, when they’d just been kids having a good time together.

  


Her and Allison had gotten wine-drunk and she’d updated her on her life, the less glamorous parts that were absent from magazine covers. She’d told her about her daughter Claire (who sounded just as opinionated and stubborn as a young Allison) and about her neighbourhood in Malibu. It sounded like a different planet to Vanya, who’d never left the East Coast, but it sure sounded fun. In the more quiet moments, when the mood settled, Allison had told her about her divorce, and how the look on her ex-husband’s face had made her feel like her whole life was a lie.

  


She’d looked at Vanya yesterday with an expression that she’d never forget. All this time, she’d thought Allison was the one who made it, only to realize she regretted her whole life.

  


So, yeah. It’d been a crazy couple of days.

  


“Ms. Hargreeves?” Charlie asked, breaking her train of thought.

  


This morning, Allison had gone back to the house because, apparently, a lot was going on there and she had to stop Luther and Diego from killing each other. And since, unlike Allison, she couldn’t take weeks off of work at a time, she’d used the opportunity to schedule a violin lesson. After all, when her siblings finally got around to burying Dad or scattering his ashes or whatever, she’d be back on her own.

  


“Sorry, Charlie.” She smiled thinly, hoping he hadn’t noticed she hadn’t been paying attention. “That was perfect. Could you run it just one more time, and then you can take a break?”  


Charlie didn’t look entirely convinced, but nonetheless launched into his ear-bleeding version of ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’. Vanya tried to be more attentive this time, but before she could figure out just what exactly made Charlie sound so god-awful, she heard her doorknob turn. Her gaze turned to the door, and seeing this, Charlie’s did as well. He stopped playing.

  


“It’s fine.” She assured him, getting up. She walked over to the door, frowning in confusion. She’d given Allison her spare key, and there was no-one else she could think of that’d be trying to get into her apartment right now. “They’ll knock.”

  


But they didn’t knock. ‘They’ (who she could now see was Five) walked into her apartment like they owned the place.

  


The novelty of Five’s presence was yet to wear off, and if she was being honest, probably never would. He walked into her apartment, after having presumably jimmied the lock, and stood in front of her like this was a daily occurrence. “Vanya.” He seemed to be about to say something, when he noticed the eight-year-old holding the violin and looking concerned. “Who’s this?”

  


She really didn’t want to deal with this right now. When all her siblings came to town, she’d never have guessed they’d be in her apartment so much. She wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten her address. “That’s Charlie. I’m teaching him violin.” She gently shoved him into the hallway. “This really isn’t a good time, Five.”

  


“Who’s that?” Charlie demanded neck craning to see what they were doing.

  


“I’m her younger brother.” Five answered, sticking his head into the apartment. “Actually, do you think that’s how that works?” He turned to her, as though he was genuinely curious. “I mean, I’m your brother and I’m younger than you, but we were born at the same time…”

  


Five, unlike most of his siblings, had not at any point learned to assimilate into normal society. He also generally loved to fuck with people, and Vanya couldn’t see herself getting any more tutoring jobs if Five fried some kid’s brains by telling him the secrets of the universe. She turned back, forcing a smile. “We’ll be right back.” She assured Charlie, and then she fully went into the hallway and shut the door behind her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  


Five shrugged, petulant as ever. “I needed to talk to you. Look, I can tell it isn’t a good time-“

  


Vanya sighed in relief. “Good, so I’ll talk to you la-“

  


“-so I’ll teleport into your room and wait till you’re done.” He finished, and before she could protest he was gone.

  


Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. Good to know his teleporting was just as unsettling as it’d always been. She walked back into the apartment, and locked the door, turning to offer a nervous smile to Charlie. “Sorry about that,” She offered. He already seemed to be over it, and so she went back to the couch and for the remainder of their allotted two hours, Vanya tried her best to improve his form and helped him study some sheet music. Unfortunately, her mind kept wandering to the fact that Five was in her bedroom right now, and he’d come all the way here to talk about something. This made her very anxious, and probably not a very good tutor so that once she sent Charlie off with his mother, she wasn’t sure he’d ever be coming back.

  


She didn’t have much time to ponder this, because she turned back from the door, and almost had a heart attack because Five was on her couch.

  


  


  


  


This new dynamic was going to take some getting used to.

  


She’d always liked Five. He was always nice to her, in a condescending way, because that’s the only way Five knew to be nice to anyone. The Hargreeves sibling dynamic had always been slightly unnatural. Most siblings could claim seniority, even children of multiple births could claim seconds or minutes. But since they’d all been born at e _xactly the same time,_ the hierarchy of respect in their house was more like survival of the fittest. In the hierarchy, Five had definitely been near the top, and as such Vanya had always looked up to him.In her memories of him, he was her big brother, if not in age then in intelligence, and he knew everything. But seeing him as a thirteen-year-old boy made her realize just how young he really was, and how imperfect her memories had been. He was a child just like the rest of them, albeit a child smart enough to get the hell out.

  


He confirmed what Allison had told her, saying there a lot was going on at the house. In just the last two days, Luther reviewed the footage of Dad’s room the night he died and realized that Mom had failed to administer first aid, and was voting that they shut her down, Diego got pissed and Luther and no one had heard from him since, Klaus had disappeared for a while and returned high out of his mind, and now Luther was demanding all the siblings have a meeting about some incredibly important thing he’d supposedly found out. And Vanya was for the first time included in ‘all the siblings’.

  


“Is that why you came here? To call me for Luther’s meeting?” Even as she said it, she knew it was impossible. Luther was at odds with Five almost as often as he was with Diego, a sixteen-year jump into the future wouldn’t change that.

  


Five looked horrified at the prospect. “What? No, I thought Allison would’ve already told you about that. That’s the reason she came today, because Luther was going berserk.” He gave her a piercing stare. “I wanted to talk to you about your powers. To see them, know how they work.”

  


Vanya blinked. “I thought Allison would’ve told _you_ this, but I haven’t stopped taking my meds. I’m not sure if I ever will.”

  


She didn’t think she’d ever seen him look so confused before. For Five, the literal definition of ‘curiosity killed the cat’, the idea of not knowing something so big must’ve been crazy. It’s not like she didn’t want to know; the curiosity was killing her too. But the possibilities that came with it, the changes to her daily life that she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to handle at this point, when she’d established her routine so firmly. And what if, despite all of Allison’s reassurance, her father was right and her powers were too dangerous? There were times she felt guilty, because the Vanya that Five knew would’ve jumped at the chance. But most of the time, she just felt better not knowing.

  


But she knew that even if she told Five all of this and absolutely poured her heart out, he’d still stare at her like she was insane. So instead she said, “It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand.”

  


She should’ve predicted that this would elicit a far worse reaction from Five, who did _not_ like to be told he didn’t understand things. He teleported over to the bay window and peered out of the blinds. “Why wouldn’t I understand?” He asked, turned away from her. “I’ve missed a lot of stuff since I’ve been gone? I’m too young to understand?”

  


God, this was going terribly. In all the times she’d imagined Five reappearing in those silent nights after he disappeared, she’d never dreamt up anything like this. “No, of course not.” She watched at he teleported over to the bookcase and started thumbing through. Again, completely unnecessary, as it would’ve taken him seconds to get there. “You’ve always had your powers. They were never taken away, and so you can’t imagine a world in which you don’t have them. Using them for you is as natural as-“ she gasped as he appeared directly in front of her, “-breathing. It’s the same for me and not having powers.”

  


She wished she had some height over him, at least, so his stare wouldn’t feel so penetrating.

  


“Look, your powers are emotion-based.” He said, after a pause. “None of ours really are. I wanted to see them in person, because from what Dad said, they’re pretty amazing. But you’re still taking the medicine Dad’s doctor prescribed to you twenty-five years ago, no questions asked. That’s fine too.” He held up a hand as she started to protest. “But I’ll say this; when I first got here, I was kind of freaked out, because I thought everything changed. But the longer I stay, the more I realize that everything’s the exact same, because after all this time Dad is still controlling every single one of us.”

  


Vanya could only stare at him. Five had given her many similar speeches, and this same message had been present in the speech he’d given the night before he’d disappeared. The only thing that was different was that for once, he wasn’t painting himself as the only free-thinking one of them, but instead accepted that Dad was controlling him. And that was concerning.

  


“You’re right; I _do_ think it’s simple. If you want to use your powers, you should. If not, don’t.” He walked over to the door.

  


“Five-“ she began, though she had no idea what she’d say.

  


“I’m going back home.” He interrupted, turning the doorknob. “Luther’s idea actually sounded pretty interesting, and it’s not like I have anything else to do.” Probably just to be annoying, he stepped through a portal and left her door wide open.

  


Vanya stood up and closed it. He’d given her a lot to think about. He couldn’t be doing well in that house. Sure, Five had always liked to be alone, but living in that house with Luther and Klaus couldn’t be good for him. More than anything, she wanted him to do better than they all had. He was definitely the smartest of them, and without Dad breathing down his neck every second, he could do what he wanted. Problem was, after all the excitement around Dad’s death faded, all her siblings would disappear once again and he would most likely be lost in the fray.

  


She sighed, and took her coat off the hook. She couldn’t believe she was actually going back there. She wasn’t sure whether it was to keep tabs on Five, make sure they finally buried Dad, or because she was excited to go to a sibling meeting she’d actually been invited to. She shrugged on her coat, noting that now was right about the time she’d shove her meds into her pocket because her siblings would stress her out to no end. She picked them up, and thought about what Five had said. With every bone in her body screaming at her that this was a bad idea, she set them down on the counter and walked out the door.

  


This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i decided to squeeze this out, because i kept finding myself getting carried away writing random fics instead of writing the one that matters most, so i wrote it while i still had free time  
> please give me comments. they sustain me

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think so far. also, is it just me freaking out about all the amazing ua content Justin min provides? he needs to be put in charge of their social media, and also everything else


End file.
